A flexible container holder that is used to carry and hold a container is disclosed in Japanese utility model laid-open No. 882/1977. Another flexible container holder that is used to carry a bottle washer is disclosed in Japanese utility model laid-open No. 88437/1978. However, a simple flexible container holder that is versatile, produces a sufficient gripping force, and has a self-centering function is not available.
In a bottling or canning plant, many kinds of containers are handled, i.e., conveyed, indexed, positioned, held, and gripped. Whenever a different kind of container is to be handled, dedicated tools adapted to the size and shape of the handled containers are prepared, or the tools used for the previous handling are readjusted. As more diversified containers are used, a single plant is required to handle more kinds of containers. In order to satisfy this requirement, the components of a plant, i.e., rinser filler, capper, caser, conveyor, etc. must be equipped with their respective numerous dedicated devices. Further, a long time is taken to set up the equipment.
In this way, in the conventional plant of this kind, dedicated handling devices are used for each individual kind of container. Therefore, the components of the plant need their respective many replaceable parts. Further, a long time is required to set up the components.
A conventional plant for handling containers consists of fillers, rinsers, cappers, case packers, uncasers, and other components which are connected together by conveyors in the order of operation. Containers to be handled are taken out of a bulk depalletizer. Then, they are individually cleaned, filled, and received in a packer. These containers are repeatedly combined together or separated according to the characteristics and the conditions of the components. At the entrance to each component, the containers are spaced a given distance from one another or arrayed, depending on the characteristics and the conditions of the component. The conveyors which interconnect the components of the plant are controlled to smoothly and efficiently run the whole production line. When one kind of container is switched to another, the following operations have been required to be performed according to the shape and the size of the container. (1) Adjustment of the width and height of each conveyor guide. (2) Adjustment of the width and height of the guides for each component. (3) Replacement and adjustment of the parts of each components which handle containers. (4) Setting of the velocity, capacity, etc.
These operations are effected when the production line is stopped. In the conventional container-handling plant described above, the components of the plant are interconnected by the conveyors, and the containers are separately handled. Therefore, the following various problems have arisen.
(1) The containers are repeatedly gathered and separated according to the characteristics and conditions of the components of the plant. Whenever the containers are handled, they collide with each other or with guides or are rubbed. As a result, the containers, such as bottles, are caused to scuff or break, or become damaged.
(2) The collisions or rubbings described in (1) above produce noise, deteriorating the work environment.
(3) It is necessary to arrange the containers at certain intervals or array them at the entrance to each component. Hence, the rate of operation of the whole production line decreases, leading to a reduction in the productivity.
(4) When one kind of container is switched to another, the widths and heights of guides for the conveyors interconnecting the components are required to be readjusted according to the shape and dimensions of the container. Further, it is necessary to replace or readjust the guides for the components and the parts for handling the container. Therefore, it is quite laborious to make preparations for the switching of the kind of container. Also, large space and much labor are needed to store and convey various kinds of parts. The parts used to switch one kind of container to another include container-indexing screws, star wheels, container guides, valve attachments. As the number of the kinds of containers handled increases, the number of these parts increases, thus posing problems.
(5) The containers are gathered or separated while conveyed in one or more rows. During this operation, the containers may come to a stop or fall down, resulting in a decrease in the rate of operation of the production line. Also, in order to remove the trouble, labor is necessitated. Further, in order that the containers be smoothly gathered and separated and that the components run efficiently, the line is required to be controlled in a complex manner.
(6) Since the components each having a single function are connected together by conveyors to constitute a production line, the plant occupies large space. To save the energy consumed and the space, improvements have been demanded.
(7) When one kind of container is switched to another, it is necessary to stop or halt the production line. This lowers the rate of operation of the equipment, and makes it difficult to effect a production so as to meet the diversified consumer's needs.
Pasteurizers for sterilizing products have heretofore showered the outside of each container, the contents of which are warmed or cooled by the natural convection of the contents. Accordingly, it takes a long time to sterilize the containers. This prolongs the whole production time, which is required to be improved to reduce the energy consumed and the working hours. Also, the pasteurizers of a plant occupy the largest space to install among the components of the plant. This situation must be remedied to curtail the space.
As described above, when containers of this kind is handled, they have been treated individually. Therefore, numerous problems have occurred, e.g., damage to the containers, production of noise, a reduction in the rate of operation of the production line, cumbersome with which one kind of container is switched to another, an increase in the number of preparatory steps, the necessity of various parts, the need to control the line in a complicated way, and difficulty with which the production is effected timely. Especially, a sterilizing process needs a very long time. Further, the equipment occupies large space. Among others, these undesirable situations must be remedied.
The conventional method of warming or cooling product containers, such as bottles and cans, is to spray warm or cold water on the outside of each product container while the container is put upright, so that the liquid inside the container is warmed or cooled by the natural convection of the liquid. When this conventional method is utilized, the warming or cooling depends on the natural convection of the liquid inside the product container, such as a bottle or can, and so it takes a very long time to complete the warming or cooling operation.
When a bottle or can placed still is warmed or cooled by natural convection without stirring the inside product liquid, locally and considerably heated or cooled spots are generally produced before the handling process. Especially, when the whole inside liquid is sterilized, it is necessary to uniformly heat the whole liquid. For this purpose, if local cold spots are heated to a predetermined temperature, then the other portions are overheated. This may impair the quality of the product, such as taste, color, flavor, aroma, or the like.
In this way, the conventional method of warming or cooling a product container, such as a bottle or can, is to spray warm or cold water on the outside of the container that is placed still. The resulting natural convection of the inside product liquid warms or cools the liquid. Therefore, it takes a long time to complete the warming or cooling operation. Further, locally heated or cooled spots tend to occur inside the liquid, thus sometimes degrading the quality of the product.